A check-out stand is used in stores have conveyors that receives items and moves to a scanner for checking out by a register clerk. A number of check-out stands are usually placed on the exit of the store so that multiple customers can gather their items and purchase them on the way out of the store.
There are several check-out stands known in the art, out of which one design of a check-out stand includes a front end on which the customer unloads the items. A scanner and register are located at the opposite end of the front end of the stand. The front end usually includes a conveyor for conveying the items toward the scanner and the cash register. A register clerk picks each of the items from the receiving conveyor and either scans the item across the scanner, or manually enters the price and stock number information into the register. The scanned items can be placed on a second conveyor, referred to a “take-away conveyor,” that extends to a rear end. The take-away conveyor moves the scanned items at rear end, where a bagging clerk can place each of the scanned items into bags.
Most known checkout assemblies have been designed so that bagging can be best performed by a bagging clerk other than a checkout clerk. Some checkout assemblies have been designed so that bagging may also be performed by the checkout clerk.
Some prior art check-out stands include a take-away conveyor having a leading end which is movable away from the trailing end of the scanner. Withdrawal of the take-away conveyor exposes an area located beneath the leading end of the conveyor. The take-away conveyor is designed to be further retracted to provide access to a pass-through via which the register clerk may access the customer's cart to load filled bags. For ease of description, the configuration and operation in which the take-away conveyor is completely retracted so that the register clerk may pass can be referred to as a “walk-through.”
There are a number of problems with a manually-operated retractable, take-away conveyor. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,971 discloses a check-out stand which is easily configurable to allow scan-and-pass, scan-and-bag, and walk-through operations. A check-out stand has a telescoping take-away conveyor extending between a front end and a rear end. Retraction of the telescoping take-away conveyor allows an area located beneath the leading end of the conveyor to be exposed. If the telescoping take-away conveyor is retracted only a limited amount, the single bag may be inserted between the leading end of the telescoping take-away conveyor and the trailing end of the scanner.
This application provides improvements to a check-out stand. There is always a need for a safer check-out stand.